


When I Find You

by Bird_Of_Scarlet, canufeelthemagictonight



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Adorable, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst and Romance, Angst and Tragedy, Bets & Wagers, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Cinnamon rolls, Crushes, Danger, Emotions, Everyone's Single, F/M, Falling In Love, Growing feelings, Heavy Angst, Hope, Kissing, Love, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romantic Soulmates, Sad, Sadness, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tragedy, people looking for soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2019-09-06 03:24:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16824145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bird_Of_Scarlet/pseuds/Bird_Of_Scarlet, https://archiveofourown.org/users/canufeelthemagictonight/pseuds/canufeelthemagictonight
Summary: Rule #1: When you meet your soulmate, a tattoo known as a soulmark appears on the inside of your right wrist. The colors of the mark reflect your soulmate's feelings towards you.Teala receives her soulmark in Everlock. So do several of her friends. But when an innocent search for love turns into a deadly game of survival, only tragedy can come of it.An Escape the Night AU. Covers the beginning of the season all the way through episode 4, but with soulmates.





	1. The Bet

**Author's Note:**

> This whole thing was partly inspired by some of Birdy's ideas, so this one's for you, friend!  
> (Also, I don't know who's actually met who in real life, but this is an AU, so I do what I want, Thor.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teala was _not_ expecting to get her soulmark in the 70s, but then, she does. Life's funny that way.

_Rule #1: When you meet your soulmate, a tattoo known as a soulmark appears on the inside of your right wrist. The colors of the mark reflect your soulmate's feelings towards you._

_Rule #2: You cannot truly identify your soulmate until you kiss them, at which point your soulmark will become a solid gold color._

_Rule #3: It is possible to have a soulfriend in addition to (or, in some cases, instead of) a soulmate. If/when you meet your soulfriend, a friendmark will appear above your heart in the form of a tiny symbol of some sort. Unlike soulmarks, friendmarks do not change color, and unlike soulmates, soulfriends are able to identify each other instantly, without the need for a kiss to prove the connection._

_Rule #4: It is also possible to have more than one soulmate. Those who meet a second soulmate will have a soulmark on their left wrist in addition to the one on their right._

_Rule #5: If your soulmate/soulfriend dies, you will feel the pain of their death, and your soulmark/friendmark will become a scar. If your soulmate dies before you can identify them, the scar will forever remain in the colors that represent how your soulmate thought about you at the moment of their death._

Teala knows the soulmate rules by heart. They were drummed into everyone's heads from preschool onward, and what's more, she's _seen_ some of her friends find soulmates of their own. But she's not _too_ fussed about her lack of a soulmark. She's only twenty-one. She's got time. Hasn't she?

Most of the YouTubers in their group of ten are people that Teala's already met. Only four of them—Matthew "MatPat" Patrick, Nikita Dragun, Safiya Nygaard, and Roi Fabito—are strangers to her, and they seem nice enough, so she's eager to make their acquaintance. "My name's Teala!" She waves and curtsies to the assembled group. "I'm the Super Spy. It's nice to meet you!"

(She's too wrapped up in their mission to notice the soulmark that forms on her right wrist.)

Everyone introduces themselves. Then, Joey shows up, and it's time to go save Everlock.

"If we're here to save the town," says Colleen to Manny and Teala, "how can we use our talents to help? Because, like, as a Dancer, I don't know how much I can do."

"I can mix things," offers Manny.

Colleen turns to Teala, who's currently admiring the beautiful carnival around them. "Yeah, like, have you ever done spy work before?"

"No." Teala makes up a backstory for her character on the spot. "This is my first job."

"So we're screwed," concludes Colleen. "But that doesn't matter, because you'll never _believe_ what I found when I was adjusting my coat a few minutes ago." She shows off a brand-new soulmark on her wrist. It's gray, which means that her soulmate currently holds a completely neutral opinion of her. "My soulmark! _Finally!_ This collab is gonna help me land some _true love,_ baby!"

Manny gasps. "Omigod. You got one, too?" He hurriedly rolls up his sleeve to reveal his own gray soulmark.

Colleen squeals at the sight, then quickly turns to Teala. "Check your wrist!" she orders the smaller girl. "If me and Manny have soulmarks now, maybe you do, too! Maybe there's something in the air!"

"I don't think that's how it works," laughs Teala. "Soulmarks aren't like periods. They don't sync up." She's given quite a bit of thought to how she'll find her soulmate. Her parents say that they checked for their soulmarks within seconds of meeting each other, and there they were. Love at first sight. Teala hopes for a similar story of romance that she can tell to her kids and grandkids someday. _"I met my soulmate during a mission to save a town in the 1970s"_ seems right and wrong at the same time.

"Just do it!" Colleen shouts.

So Teala, not sure what she's expecting, uncovers her wrist. Sure enough, a plain, gray, neutral soulmark stares back at her.

_My soulmate..._

"I _knew_ it!" Colleen pulls both Teala and Manny into a hug. "We've _all_ got soulmarks! This is the best collab ever!" She lets them both go, takes a deep breath, and lowers her voice so that the others can't hear. "So who do you think you got? I know mine's not either of you guys, cause we've met before, and that also rules out Joey and Ro..."

"What if we made a bet?" suggests Manny, a hopeful twinkle in his hazel eyes. "First one to find and claim their soulmate gets ten bucks each from the other two."

"Okay," says Teala, because why not?

Colleen whoops "You're on!" and charges back into the carnival like a freight train that's actively trying to run off the rails. Manny also takes his leave, giggling quietly.

Teala can't take her eyes off of her soulmark. It's still gray, of course, but the longer she looks at it, the more she can see a light shade of yellow there as well. Intrigue. Curiosity. Her soulmate, whoever he or she is, apparently wouldn't mind getting to know her a little better.

Honestly, she's in no mood to rush this. She's _certainly_ not about to go around kissing everyone within a three-mile radius just to find her soulmate, even if she _is_ locked in a three-way bet with Manny and Colleen. She wants things to happen naturally. She wants to talk to her soulmate, get to know them, make a connection, fall in love, and _then_ prove that they're soulmates with the obligatory kiss. She wants them to find each other. It's more romantic that way.

For now, she plans to keep a careful eye on her soulmark. The colors are bound to change as she grows closer to her soulmate, so if all goes well, she should be able to identify them within a fairly short period of time. Then, the _real_ love story can begin.

"Hey!" she hears Colleen holler from a good distance away. "I got my soulmark! Who wants to kiss me?"

This is going to be an interesting night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Roi discovers his soulmark, jumps to conclusions, and then, all hell breaks loose.


	2. The Plot Thickens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roi finds himself with a soulmark on his wrist and a thousand questions in his mind.

Roi came to Everlock for one reason and one reason only: to save people. Everlock's in trouble. The innocent townspeople need heroes to rescue them from whatever dangers linger on the horizon. It's up to him and his brand-new friends to make sure that good triumphs over evil.

Somehow, the thought that this might be where he finds his soulmate never even crossed his mind.

He already has a soulfriend. Well, he _used_ to have a soulfriend. He still remembers sobbing from the combined pain of an invisible dagger, his cherished friendmark burning into a scar, and the knowledge that Alex was gone forever. It was the worst moment of his life. He'd rather die without a soulmate than endure that pain again.

And yet...he _does_ want a soulmate. It would be _nice_ to have someone to stay with forever.

Needless to say, he's _very_ conflicted.

"Hey! I got my soulmark!" screams Colleen, bursting into Roi's conversation with Matt and Rosanna. "Who wants to kiss me?" The Disco Dancer waves her wrist around like a flag.

"Yay, Colleen!" cheers Rosanna.

"Congrats," says Matt. "We're happy for you."

Colleen beams at them, then lowers her voice. "It's someone in this group. I _know_ it is. Do any of you—"

Then, all of a sudden, Roi's startled by the quieter appearance of a dark-haired stranger with mystical clothes and a scarily serious expression on her face. "Oh!" He jumps. "Sorry. She scared me."

"Jesus Christ," says Colleen. "Anyway, as I was saying, do any of you have soulmarks yet?"

But Matt's too intrigued by the mystery woman to care about soulmarks. "Who's that?"

Roi's eyes are drawn away from the stranger's behavior and towards the soulmark on her pale wrist. Light yellow for curiosity and intrigue, swathed in shades of midnight blue respect, green admiration, and a touch of lavender fondness. Roi considers pointing this out to Colleen before he realizes that the stranger's soulmark is _far_ too colorful to be connected to any of the YouTubers. They've only _just_ met, after all.

Matt pushes Rosanna towards the stranger. "Jet Setter!"

"Okay." Rosanna hands her stuffed dog to Roi, then walks up to the stranger. "Hello!" she chirps. "Bonjour!"

"The stars," hisses the woman.

"The stars?" Colleen raises an eyebrow. "No stars. City lights."

The woman points at the sky. Her soulmark shines like a beacon in the darkness. "The stars have been talking to me."

"So, what are they saying?" Rosanna wants to know.

"All kinds of secrets."

"Are they friendship secrets?" asks Rosanna eagerly. "Light-hearted secrets? Dark secrets? Dark? Serious?" She, too, notices the stranger's soulmark. "Soulmate secrets?"

The woman's voice is a foreboding whisper. "He's coming."

Roi frowns. "Who's coming?" Something in the stranger's tone indicates that she is _not_ talking about her soulmate. Well, unless she's one of those people who hates the soulmate system.

"He's coming," the woman replies. She reaches out to pet the stuffed dog in Roi's arms.

Roi's a bit weirded out, but he quickly regains his composure. "You can have it." He offers the dog to the stranger.

"The dog?" asks Colleen.

Matt's face falls. "Oh, no. Don't."

"No, that's Blueberry," protests Rosanna gently.

 _Right. Oops. Don't try and give away other people's things._ "This is Blueberry," he says sheepishly to the woman, who is petting Blueberry's soft purple fur.

Colleen scrunches up her nose. "Blueberries are coming?"

Soon, the woman walks away, and Matt takes Rosanna to the Ferris wheel, leaving Roi alone with Colleen. "Seriously," insists Colleen, "do you have a soulmark? I kinda gotta know."

"No," mumbles Roi, instinctively rolling up his sleeve to prove his marklessness. "I don't have a...soul..."

A neutral gray soulmark sparkles against his wrist.

_No way..._

"You were saying?" giggles Colleen.

 _I have a soulmark._ Roi looks up, puts two and two together, and gulps. _Does that mean that Colleen Ballinger, the YouTuber behind Miranda Sings, is my soulmate?_ If the answer turns out to be yes, he's down with that. Colleen's a beautiful, smart, _hilarious_ girl, and _anyone_ would be lucky to have her as their one true love. "Do you..." He blushes. "If you're...maybe..."

Colleen shrugs, grabs Roi by his shoulders, and presses her lips to his.

Nothing happens.

"Whoops." Colleen doesn't even spare a glance at her still-gray soulmark. "Guess we aren't soulmates after all." It takes her about half a second to perk up. "That's okay, though! There are _plenty_ of other options around here. Manny has a soulmark. So does Teala. Maybe you belong with one of those two."

"Maybe." Roi knows nothing about Manny except that he's a beauty guru, and he knows even less about Teala, but from what he's seen of them so far, they're both fascinating people who would probably make good soulmates. He's too nervous to approach either of them, though, because he'd rather not go through a repeat of the embarrassment that just happened.

Roi and Colleen turn their attention to the Ferris wheel, where Matt and Rosanna have just boarded their passenger car. As they watch, Rosanna peeks at her wrist, lights up, and shows it to Matt. The two best friends chatter animatedly for forty-five seconds before an inquiring look from Rosanna causes Matt to roll up his own sleeve. His eyes nearly bulge out of his head in shock. Rosanna laughs and claps him on the back.

"Would you look at that," remarks Colleen. "Ro and Matt have them too. Are we here to save a town or start a dating service?"

At this point, Roi's head feels like it's going to explode. Sure, he knows that Colleen's not his soulmate, but if Teala, Manny, Matt, and Rosanna _all_ have new soulmarks, who _knows_ which of them is the one? And that's not even _considering_ the possibility that Jc, Safiya, and Nikita might have them as well!

 _Don't worry about it,_ he tells himself. _Focus on Everlock. Joey said they need help, so you gotta be ready to be their hero. You can always find your soulmate later._

Matt and Rosanna get stuck on the Ferris wheel.

Joey opens the jack-in-the-box.

The mayor dies.

The clowns attack.

Suddenly, finding his soulmate is the least of Roi's concerns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Everyone's soulmate problems take a backseat to the awful truth of Everlock. Also, Teala almost dies, and we actually start getting some Roila up in here.


	3. The Dangerous Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first death challenge! Teala looks for love in all the wrong places while also fearing for her life. There's some Roila at the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very much a filler chapter, but I needed to get it done so as to move the plot along. The real, actual Roila goodness starts after this.

It's been an hour since hell broke loose, and Teala's soulmark is no longer the neutral gray it was before. Now, not only is there a _lot_ more light yellow intrigue, but also some red-orange protectiveness that almost swallows the yellow within its swirls. She appreciates that her soulmate wants to protect her, given the circumstances she's currently in, but to be honest, she's not sure if that's going to be enough.

"So you know," whispers Matt, "I've heard your name tossed around."

Teala's throat tightens with fear and betrayal. _Me? People are voting for me? Does that mean they want me dead?_ Yeah, she could've done a little bit more to help at the disco party, but she didn't do anything to slow the team down! She _certainly_ doesn't deserve to be killed by clowns because of it! "Really?"

He nods. "I just wanted to give you the heads-up."

_Red-orange protectiveness._

Could it be? Is MatPat her soulmate? He's a fairly attractive, intelligent, kindhearted man who she hadn't met before tonight, and he _just_ expressed a desire to keep her safe. That fits with her colors. Furthermore, he admitted in his soulmate episode of Film Theory that he _"has yet to receive a soulmark, although I_ am _soulfriends with Ro, so at least I have_ some _experience with the system."_ So it's possible that he was meant to be with Teala all along.

"Did you get a soulmark when you got here?" she blurts out, desperate to know the truth before she dies.

"Yeah," admits Matt, "but now's not the time—"

"Can I see?"

Matt sighs and rolls up his sleeve. Teala rules him out as a possibility the _second_ she sees the pink and red that live in rosy harmony on his wrist. _Moving a bit fast there, aren't we, Matt's soulmate?_ she giggles to herself. _Oh, well. At least you'll be happy when you find out._

"Well," she says with a shrug, "I might as well show you mine." She reveals her mix of light yellow and red-orange. "Do you know anyone who _doesn't_ want me gone?"

Matt thinks for a minute. "I know Ro doesn't. But you guys have met before, haven't you?"

Teala nods.

"Honestly," says Matt bluntly, "we shouldn't worry too much about this soulmate business right now. _Especially_ with everyone's lives at risk. It's best to focus on staying alive, keeping our friends alive, and saving Everlock. If we find our soulmates along the way, that's fine, but life is more important than love, all right?"

"Yeah," Teala agrees. "You're right." Her silly little bet with Colleen and Manny is insignificant compared to the looming possibility of her upcoming death. Heck, people are already targeting her!

 _Calm down,_ she orders her heart. _They're only considering it. No one's_ actually _voted for you yet. You still have a chance._ But despite her mental reassurance, the others are still whispering, and the beautiful lounge feels darker and uglier than it did ten minutes ago.

She's chosen. She picks Safiya as a partner, because Jc already has Matt, and Safiya was so calm and levelheaded and _smart_ earlier. _Sure, she's not Matt, but she can beat him. Hopefully._

On her way out, she checks her soulmark. Its shades of light yellow and red-orange are accompanied by a new color: pale blue-gray. Worry. Anxiety. Fear. _Please don't die._

Knowing that her soulmate cares about her brightens Teala's spirits slightly, but it's not enough to destroy the lump of terror in her throat.

Jc Caylen dies without a soulmate.

Of course, his death is just as much of a tragedy as it would've been if he _did_ have a soulmark on his wrist. He was smart. He was kind. He was only twenty-five. He had a long life ahead of him. He should still be here.

Besides, he had a soulfriend. God knows what Kian Lawley must be feeling right now.

Teala tries not to think about Jc as she's hustled out of the tent. Instead, she focuses on Safiya, her savior, who breezed through hot dogs and knock-em-down challenges with the intense concentration of a Jedi Master. Teala knows that she shouldn't care about soulmates at the moment, since _holy crap I just watched my friend die,_ but she can't help but wonder if her rescue relationship with Safiya means something.

Then, she notices the light blue tip of a soulmark peeking out from Safiya's left sweater sleeve.

Wait.

Left?

Aren't soulmarks supposed to be on the inside of your _right_ wrist?

"Sophia," Teala murmurs in a voice that only her partner can hear, "why do you have a soulmark in the wrong place?"

"Cause I've got two of them," is Safiya's reluctant reply. "Also, it's Safiya, not Sophia."

Teala gasps. "Two? Really?" She knows that it's possible for someone to have more than one soulmark, but it's _very_ rare. "That's awesome! Can I see?"

"Maybe later." Safiya turns red. "We gotta get back to the lounge." She picks up her pace before Teala can ask any more questions.

 _She seems a bit self-conscious about her soulmarks,_ observes Teala. _Maybe she doesn't wanna be seen as different than the rest of us._ She glues her eyes to the back of Safiya's head. _What's it like to have two soulmates? Do you get to pick one to be with, or do they share you, or how does it work? And if I_ am _one of Safiya's, does that mean she has to go back and forth between me and someone else for the rest of her life?_

Well, since Safiya's chosen to cover up her soulmarks for now, Teala has no way of knowing if her hunch about them being soulmates is true or not. Anyway, like Matt said, it doesn't matter. What matters is staying alive.

She, Safiya, Matt, Mortimer, and Calliope reeenter the lounge. Everyone gasps. Several people say "omigod." Colleen rises to her feet, her mouth unhinged, and asks "What happened?"

The name "Jc" trembles on Teala's tongue.

"Dead," says Safiya flatly.

Teala nods, her hands shaking. "They killed him." _The clowns killed him, the clowns here kill, and he didn't deserve to die, but now he's gone, and I'm still here, please don't hate me, please don't..._

She instinctively glances at her soulmark again. The pale blue-gray color is mostly swallowed up by light yellow and red-orange, but a single dot of worry remains.

As disbelieving voices chatter around her, she wobbles her way to the couch and collapses into the seat next to Roi Fabito. The Daredevil snaps out of his Jc-induced shock in order to properly register her arrival. "Hi." He smiles at her. There's grief in his grin, yes, but also an odd sense of relief. "You okay?"

"Been better," she snarks.

"I...ah..." Roi struggles to find a way to get his message across. After thirty seconds' worth of stammering, he gives up on talking altogether. Instead, he squeezes her hand, communicating his obvious _"I'm glad you're safe"_ message without any pesky words to get in the way. She squeezes back, grateful for his support.

On her soulmark, lavender fondness makes its first appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Roi might've just figured it out.


	4. The Road to Love and Heartache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roi's starting to put the pieces together, but for him, it might already be too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes a bit of rehashed prose from my novel. I plagiarized myself. I hope you guys don't mind.

Roi's soulmark swirls in swathes of lavender fondness and light blue friendship, but mostly, it's a hodgepodge of pale blue-gray worry...and for good reason, since he's currently dying from the Snake Woman's venom. _If I don't make it,_ he thinks as he does his best to endure the burning pain, _what's gonna happen to my soulmate? Will they be okay? I don't want them to suffer because of me!_

Despite his pleas to _make it stop,_ the venom marches towards his vitals like a violent army, leaving devastation in its wake. To make matters worse, there's something digging into his back. He cries out in pain, then digs through the couch cushions with his free hand, trying to get whatever-it-is out so that he can at _least_ suffer comfortably.

"What is wrong?" Calliope, whose soothing song has just ended, squeezes Roi's hand. "What is wrong now?"

"There's something on my back," he moans.

Calliope looks puzzled. "On your back?"

Roi stands up. His feet wobble a bit, but he manages to stay standing as he explores the couch. He touches something unfamiliar. "What is this?" It's a note and an ashtray. The note has a weird image on it, along with a message.

_Come find me._

_A clue!_ Suddenly, Roi gets a random burst of optimistic energy. _Okay! I can actually help the team now!_ "Come find who?" He's _sick_ of being the dude in distress. It's time for him to do his part, figure this note out, and maybe, just maybe, save the day.

"Omigod! Omigod!"

Roi looks up from his new clue, and there's Teala, clutching her shoulder, her dark eyes wild with something beyond fear. The sight of her sends a jolt of anxiety through his already-suffering body. _Don't tell me..._

"She bit me!" screams the Super Spy. "She bit me!"

 _Oh, dangit, no! Not Teala!_ "The Snake Woman?"

"Yeah! She just showed up while Nikita was dancing, and we ran, but I wasn't fast enough, and she bit me, and it hurts _so much,_ and now they're gonna think I'm _even more_ useless, and I don't wanna die! I don't want either of us to die!"

Roi grabs her hand. "We're _not_ gonna die!" he insists, his voice surging with determination. "In the movies, there's always a point where things look super dark, and everyone loses hope, but then, things get better. This is that point! We're not dead yet, so that means we still have a chance!" He shows her the note and the ashtray. "Besides, I found this!"

"What is it?" she asks.

"It's a clue. We can still help the team by solving whatever this is. What do you say?"

Teala cocks her head. For a moment, she stands there, considering his little speech...and then, she smiles and takes the clue from him. "Come find me," she repeats softly. "Should we check the lounge?"

Roi nods. _Okay. She's on my side. We're a team now, me and her, and we're gonna save the world together._

As they hunt through the lounge for something to find, Roi happens to glance at his soulmark, and he's surprised to see that it's changed dramatically since he last looked at it. Lavender, light blue, and pale blue-gray are all still there, but there are three new colors there as well: dark purple trust, silver hope, and a baby pink color that signifies the beginnings of a crush.

 _I haven't interacted with anyone in the past five minutes besides Teala,_ thinks Roi. _She's the only one who could've_ possibly _changed her opinion of me._ His jaw drops. _Omigod. Wait._ She's _my soulmate, isn't she?_

"Calliope?" asks Teala. "How much time does Guava have?"

Calliope glances at the clock. Her face falls. "Four minutes."

"Four minutes?!?" Teala squawks.

Roi smiles bravely at her. "Don't think about it," he insists. "We just gotta keep looking." He wants to ask her for a kiss, just to see if their connection really _is_ soulmate-induced, but he _can't_ do that to her. Not while they're both still dying. He should wait for a less dangerous (and more private) time to make his move...assuming, of course, that such a time will come.

He crosses his fingers, grits his teeth against the pain, and prays that this isn't the end of her and him.

Roi and Teala find the star that must be placed on the horizon. Then, their friends give them the antidote, they are cured of the Snake Woman's venom, and everyone moves on to the next task. _I'll ask her about the soulmate thing after this is over,_ Roi decides as the group converges around a snake-themed tabletop tower. _Then, maybe, we can talk, and I can get to know her a little better._

But that's before it all falls apart.

"I want you to do it!" Nikita shouts, pointing her perfectly manicured finger at Roi. "If you are the Daredevil of this group, then _prove it!"_

 _She's right._ Roi can feel his heart pounding warning signs into his chest. _I'm the Daredevil. I came here to save Everlock and protect everyone. A real Daredevil would go for the most dangerous blocks, the ones that are most likely to be the one we're looking for._

He's known a lot of heroes. He doesn't want to let them down.

"All right." He steps forward. "Check this out, then." He grabs the block in question. _Quick and easy._ If he does this properly, maybe he'll get the block _without_ knocking over the tower. _Be brave. No matter what happens, be brave._

"Roi!"

He pulls. The tower collapses into a million blocks. Everyone screams.

In a flash of horror, Roi realizes what this means for him. _I screwed up. I'm being sent into the challenge._

He looks across the table, and his heart sinks when he sees the expression of complete and utter panic on Teala's face. _I'm sorry, Teala._ The block he chose trembles in his hands. _You deserve a soulmate who_ isn't _such an idiot._

His soulmark has never contained more worry than it does right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: The moment of truth.


	5. The Soulmark's Glow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can Roi and Teala realize that they're totally soulmates before...well, you know? Let's find out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! So I decided to add Birdy as a co-author to this story, because she's been super invested in it since Day One, and she helped me plan a lot of it. She will be writing this particular chapter for you! (I proofreader it and edited it, of course.)--Leah
> 
> Oop I'm not impatient I've just sold my soul to this Au I mean what- ~Birdy

_She's going down._

Whatever way this ends, Teala is going down.

And she is going down _hard._

At this point, Teala's certain that she's heading into the challenge. They didn't get rid of her last time, and she's hardly done anything worthy of saving herself this time around. There's one space in that challenge, and anyone can see that it's got her name written all over it.

It'll be her versus Roi.

_Roi._

Guava, Roi. Kind-hearted, supportive Roi. The closest thing she has to an ally...hell, a _friend_ in this town, _Roi_.

She thought Colleen and Manny were her friends, even Rosanna, but it only makes sense that when their lives are on the line, friendship goes out the window. Then again, Roi hardly even knows her, so there's nothing to stop him from leaving her in the dirt the second he beats her.

That part is inevitable.

The moment the victor emerges from this challenge, she, little Teala Dunn _, is going to die._

Her body—soon to be corpse, as far as she's concerned—already feels heavy as she slumps down onto the sofa, her back sinking into the cushion, closing her eyes tight as she hears Calliope go over the same voting stuff as last time, plus the fact that only one name will be drawn. 

She opens her eyes in time to see the strings of Roi's jacket move out of her vision as he goes up to the cards. While everyone else seems to be focused on the cards, her gazes drifts back down to the mark on her wrist. 

It's changed quite a bit since she last looked at it. The earlier red-orange protectiveness is more vibrant than ever, though it looks almost swallowed up by the pale blue-grey worry flooding the majority of her mark. Much to her surprise, though, there's something new. Swirling in the centre of the warmer tone, amongst the lavender fondness, a patch of baby pink.

_Crush._

It baffles her how her soulmate could have somehow ended up liking her _more_ over the past hour, but any snark is quickly filled with the dragging fear that she's let the love-of-her-not-so-long-life down already.

The death of a soulmate _burns_. It _scars_ , both physically _and_ mentally. She doesn't want to be a part of that. 

She manages to bring herself to look up at Roi as he passes by again, shuffling back in her seat to let him past, catching his eye and the tail end of an awkward smile of what she hopes is "good luck" as his gaze seemingly flicks up from her wrist as well, before quickly diverting back to his own seat. She can't even look in his direction again before Safiya taps her arm, signalling for the girl to go up herself. As if it would make much of a difference, she scans the cards and quickly points out the one labelled _Troublemaker_ when her eyes hit it. With that, she walks back to her seat, holds on to her wrist, and waits.

Safiya goes after her, then Colleen, and so on, until Calliope's back to shuffling cards. Her mind wanders back to her own vote. 

_God,_ if that came true. As great as he comes off, Roi would need to go in all guns-a-blazing to have any hope of winning against the resident Troublemaker—

" _Nikita."_

_That's what she said—wait._

_"_ The Troublemaker."

Her head snaps up, and there it is, or rather, there it isn't.

Her card.

_It's not her card._

She'd pound the air if it weren't for the seven—hopefully not eight—other people in the room who most likely wished it _was_ her, so she just keeps her hand held tightly against her wrist as Roi and Nikita rise from their seats and make their way out of the room.

 _Roi_...

"Good luck!"

She knows that won't be enough, but she just hopes he knows that she means every bit of it. 

They haven't even talked much, but for some reason, she already misses him.

She really needs to shake that off.

This should be enough. She's safe another hour. Just that fact alone should ease her nerves. Right?

Apparently, it's doesn't.

In fact, part of her can already feel fear approaching again.

Looking at her mark again, the colours seem to be battling against each other now, fighting for space, but why is her soulmate still scared for her? Especially now. They shouldn't be afraid for her. 

They should be more afraid for Roi.

_She's afraid for Roi._

Even if by some miracle she's not on the chopping block this time, she can't help but shift in her seat, her gut twisting in on itself, her hand gripping to the end of the couch and nails digging into the cushion.

She shouldn't be this scared. Should she? _She's_ not the one with her life on the line. Then why can she feel the anxiety creeping up her shoulders, looping around her throat and _tugging,_ the suffocating idea that her entire world might end within the next ten minutes stinging like a deadly dose of poison in her neck...but it's not real. Right? She was cured. So was—

"Roi? Why are you..?"

Colleen's fading mutter drags Teala out of her head, causing her to look up at the figure who's just stormed through the door. Instinctively, she shifts towards him, confusion replacing the previous fear as he seemingly makes a bee-line towards her, fists curled at his side and eyes trained on the floor in front of him.

 _Why is he here?_ She's hardly complaining but shouldn't he be in the challenge? What's so important that—

He's a couple feet away from her before he finally looks up, the exact second his foot catches against something on the floor, and he trips.

Her hands fly up in an attempt to help him, though his look of panic morphs back into determination, and with that, he manages to plant a hand on either side of her on the couch, and he leans in.

Nothing more then a squeak breaks from her lips before his own crash against them, and that's when it hits her. He's kissed— _kissing_ her, and... _And_...

_And that's when everything stops, and starts, at the exact same time._

_She'd heard it since she was little, in fairytale stories and all around her..._

_"It's like magic."_

_And holy fuck._

_They were not wrong._

_It starts like a spark of electricity, coursing through her veins and down her spine across her skin and it's like the kind of shiver that you get when you're excited and nervous all at the same time and it's intoxicatingly addictive._

Absentmindedly she raises her hand to cup his cheek and she can't help but _grin_ both inside and out because he's _warm_ and she can hear her heart _yearning_ for her to just wrap her arms around his neck and just pull him in and _stay. Just like that. Safe and secure and just so, so warm. If they stayed right here, they could talk. She could get to know him. What makes him tick. What makes him laugh or cry, what he loves and hates. What makes him scared. Every part of him, she just wants to hold onto it for as long as she can, and never let it go again and_ _she's running out of air but she couldn't care less because everything feels like it belongs. Right here. Right now. With him._

Then, like she's supposed to, she can breathe again.

For the first time in what feels like forever, she exhales, the cool air running over her empty hand, nothing in between it and her anymore.

Slowly, she opens her eyes. Even after blinking several times, nothing's changed.

He's gone.

Of course he is.

Nothing last forever, and here? They'd be lucky for a spare minute to just exist.

None of them even have to look at her mark to know what just happened.

_It's a match._

The now golden glow of her Soulmark seems to pulse, growing warmer and then fading away, reaching out for its other half and then falling back when it realises there's nothing there to hold onto.

It's Colleen who finally breaks the silence, her voice faintly cracking as caught air and tears well up in Teala's throat.

"I guess we owe you ten bucks each then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: It all falls apart.


End file.
